Eddie Murphy Died? Nope, It’s Another Celebrity Death Hoax

If you’ve read that Eddie Murphy died today, let us put your mind at rest: The 52-year-old actor and stand-up is almost certainly alive and well.

A fresh batch of celebrity death rumors have reportedly been doing the rounds this week on social media sites, and poor Eddie can’t seem to catch a break. The Beverly Hills Cop star was already killed off in February 2012 and July 2012. In fact, the actor has now been the victim of an estimated six online death hoaxes, all varying in scale.

The source of this latest hoax is not yet confirmed, though Mediamass reports a Facebook page titled “R.I.P Eddie Murphy” attracted “nearly one million” Likes.

As usual, separating fact from fiction in such rumors is tricky. Mediamass claims to have heard this from Murphy’s reps:

“He joins the long list of celebrities who have been victimized by this hoax. He’s still alive and well, stop believing what you see on the Internet.”

That sounds faintly believable… until you realize Mediamass has linked the exact same quote to celebrity death hoaxes dozens of times.

So is this a hoax of a hoax? Well, it seems that way. But one thing is certain: With the term “Eddie Murphy died” trending online, it seems plenty of people have been suckered in.

We’re not going to take the quote above as gospel, but there’s been no word that Eddie Murphy died from official channels. For now, let’s just assume the 48 Hrs. star is still walking this mortal coil. And also enjoy this: